Guy Hands is poised to agree a £3.5bn deal with Japanese bank Nomura to take
control of Annington Homes, which manages almost 60,000 Army houses in the
UK.

Mr Hands, who runs private equity firm Terra Firma, originally bought Annington in 1996 when he worked for Nomura.

Annington manages 57,434 army homes – known as the married quarters estate – which makes the company one of the largest private owners of residential property in the UK.

Since 1996, when the Ministry of Defence sold the “lease and leaseback” assets for just £1.66bn, Nomura is thought to have made almost £2bn in profit.

Terra Firma has been managing the company for Nomura, but it is understood that Mr Hands has wanted to take full control for the past six months.

Terra Firma investors have agreed to pay £500m for the asset together with £500m of new debt to be raised through a high yield bond organised by Barclays. That £1bn will go to Nomura, while £2.5bn of existing debt in Annington will be transferred across.